Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1930)

96 Mo t 1 Picture News October 2 5 , 19 30 MANAGE!?!' KCLND TABLE CLLDf Potato Matinees Are Corking Thanksgiving Gag Are you planning a potato matinee for the week or two weeks before Thanksgiving? It's one of the best ways to grab off a flock of good-will and publicity for your house. It is a certainty that the local paper will get solidly behind you. Announce through their columns and your screen and house organ that on a certain day, all kids bringing in a bag of potatoes or a can of fruit, beans, etc., will be admitted free to the theatre. Stack the goods up in the lobby of your house. Let the residents of your town know that the goods will be donated to the Salvation Army, or local charity. Take a picture of the stuff you receive and grab off some additional space in the local newspaper. The "potato" matinee is a natural for Thanksgiving. There are plenty of ways in which you can benefit your house, as well as yourself and others by working like a Trojan to put a stunt of this sort across. It is not alone from a publicity standpoint that you should attack it. You're a showman, a credit to your community, and anything you can do to relieve an unfortunate situation in your town will more than be appreciated. Oke. Walter McDowell of Louisville, Ky., Joins Round Table Club From down in Louisville, Ky., we recruit another member in the person of Walter D. McDowell, of the State Theatre, the United Artists and Loew house. During his many years in the show game, McDowell has turned out some corking showmanship, accounts of which have been frequently seen in trade publications and newspapers throughout the country. He is very active at his house, being one of the real vets in show experience. As we list this city as being pretty close to 100% Round Table, we are under the impression that Walter will have some pretty stiff competition if he tries to lead the field. However, Walter, it is up to you. If you want to take a crack at running ahead of the pack, you know your ability. Let's have a photo of yourself when you send in your initial contribution so that we can give you a regular introduction on the Club pages. Man Painted Sign In Full View of Patrons of Plaza Oscar Offers Us a Couple; Including a Knockout Herald Down in Athens, Alabama, the natives have been seeing plenty of showmanship for the past couple of seasons or so and the reason for it has been that Earle Oscar, manager of the Ritz Theatre doesn't let up on the speedy pace he sets when he wants to sell the town on each and every show that he plays at the house. As usual, Earle hands us a bunch of quantity gags with the quality mixed in with them. Take the account of his campaign for "Dynamite" when he played the picture not so long ago. Small red cards measuring about two inches all around, carrying copy, "A Careless Driver Plays With 'Dynamite'," were placed on every car in the vicinity of Athens. Another stunt was that of securing a great many cardboard boxes, labeling them "Dynamite" and throwing them about the streets. This stunt, as would be expected, caused plenty of excitement, until the persons got near enough to distinguish the name of the theatre and the fact that "Dynamite," in this case, was a picture title and not an explosive. We are showing a cut of the novel heralds Oscar uses. These heralds measure three by two inches, printed in black on common stock paper. Look them over. They go great in Oscar's town and they should probably do something for you, too. If you can use them, hop to it. They are inexpensive and will give you an opportunity for displaying ingenuity in make-up. A gag that went over well on "Hell's Heros" was the distribution of heralds, in the form of pay envelopes, that contained appropriate copy on front, and inside, a couple of spoonsfull of sand. The natives liked the stunt very much. Another stunt, on the same film, that went over well was a street ballyhoo. Three men, dressed like desperadoes, rode horseback about the town. Signs on their backs plugged the film, and the effectiveness of the stunt may be seen in the photo we are showing. The other photo shows you what Oscar does along the lines of display work. A lobby stunt that derived an unusual amount of publicity for "Animal Crackers" when it played the Plaza Theatre, Asheville. N. C, was the stunt that F. LaBar, Jr., used by having his house artist paint a coming sign in full view of the patrons. The artist worked in the lobby at different hours of the day on a special banner which was to cover the entire electric sign. Neatly lettered cards nearby the artist informed the patrons that he was working on a special sign for "Animal Crackers" — one of the laugh hits of the season and coming to the Plaza the following week. The special sign made by the artist covered the entire electric sign with the exception of the name "Plaza" and electric border. The banner contained cut-out heads of the four Marx brothers, their names, title of picture and catchlines pertaining to the picture. The sign was illuminated by four 1,000watt lights which made an excellent attention-getter. As you all know, LaBar turns out some fine displays at his house, and it was only recentlv that we showed you the work he created for "Anybody's War" and "The Silent Enemy," so you know what to expect from him in the future. Right? "HOOT GIBSON" FIGHTS LIKE A GAME COCK in "SPURS" TODAY at the RITZ THEATRE Be Wise! SEE "UNDER A TEXAS MOON" TODAY at the RITZ THEATRE He's certainly a busy showman, isn't he? Though he is not located in a big city, the work he turns out is certainly big time showmanship and we feel sure that he had made the theatre one of the community assets. This is the way it should be and we are glad to see that Oscar is right on tap. Let's hear some more from you, Earle.